This is a holiday long weekend and a wonderful time, it feels like summer. This morning I watched the thermometer is in the garage 29 degrees at 10 am. Today household storage and preparation for the arrival of Courtney. She comes from Taupo (New Zealand), beautiful place to ski. They arrived last Tuesday was the beautiful hotel where we'll get it back just now. Meanwhile they've been to the city center, the aquarium and the Amédée lighthouse that we do not know. Time to go forward we go to Anse Vata, we do not know the location, beautiful hotel and we expect Courtney, she is sitting in a big white armchair, and a little scared. This is the smallest of the group and his French is a beginner, we introduce ourselves in English, we teach him that we lived in New Zealand for 2 years and that the girls speak English, a smile came back we talk with his teacher to reassure her, too. The evening passed very quickly the three girls have fun and laugh together ...
Archive for "September 2010"
After a late weekend on his knees, that is to say for me and aches sunburn for all the world behind the joints. This morning new week and leave for work, and bad news, we learn the deaths of a friend of my office. My colleagues do not yet croyent, it makes the headlines. For the moment we do not know what happened it was just the ULM with a tourist who died 26 years too. All our thoughts are with the respective families .. September 20 is also our wedding anniversary (20 -1), wedding cretonne over a year and the wedding will AC porcelain ... We had nothing planned, about 17 hours my husband received a phone call Peter's wife of our guide to the SCO has invited us to join the museum nouméa to attend the dances weather applications kayak family. They come from the island of pines and tonight they we interpret a dance legend of ghost fishing: a grandmother continues the tradition in her small son was explaining this famous legend. We are seeing two other shows the group Yaness more modern style, the group of Fiji Mataka more hip hop and slam poet Paul Wamo. We eat there, do not feed the women of St. Louis, by specialty, fried sausage for children. Not bad for a beginning of the week.
This is a beautiful and pleasant sunshine that we leave the estuary has Tontouta to go to observe shorebirds birds that arrive from the north and those leaving for the south is a hunted grow at this time of year . So the ornithologists of the SCO and the volunteers were given an appointment at toll Koutio for carpooling and at the same time reduce carbon dioxide. 45 minutes after departure we arrive at the portal of Mines Montagnat (private property) fortunately a person of the SCO office was responsible for recovering the key. A little track to see its different colors in a landscape out of sight between the river blue, green mountains, the red earth and the sun shining that promises a beautiful Sunday. We are 17 people or so, half of the SCO, the ICE 3 people (my office) 4 children and a teenager all volunteers for the same cause. And here we all tartinons of sunscreen, hats on our heads on the shoulders and sarong and some others with cameras, videos, telescopes and binoculars coolers without forgetting that we leave the shade of the mangroves and the we tap remised before taking the path to the estuary. It is already 9:00 in the morning we have up to 11 hours to cross the river arm before the tide rises. During this period we have observed a number of birds that bird watchers and enthusiasts have comptabilsé and photographed. Besides, I have video of our guide we Vivien doing a course on two different dances of birds in order to distinguish them. After a general laugh we continue our walk through the mud to the knee we have, some are even lost their shoes, can not be recovered. We continue to cross the rivers now we have water to the buttocks, a part of the group continues (and Birding enthusiasts) children, my colleagues, a friend and I are doing a U-turn and we're waiting on a bank dry. We take the opportunity to bathe in the river (hot water) and small snack while waiting for the pros who will cross them with water up to the size, bags and equipment above the head. Finally we all gathered to spend serious thing, the lunch that we all share and we even right in white wine. Little rest and then we take the way back, some are returning immediately while others will go for a swim in clear water desalination super hot .... but then it was time to say goodbye, certain that I shall see tomorrow at work. Day full of emotion, laughter and especially to sunburn.
September we come back, not since the release of new whale because the two previous weekend we were at the beach since summer is ahead. Tonight we are invited to the house of the book "celliére house" by Francis Loter a monument carver in the 4th Melanesian Arts Festival. We met at a city center on Thursday instead of coconut, this is our daughter who we presented because it is his art teacher who gives her advice and set up a small project a other Wednesday at college. Go to 6:45 p.m. at home celliére in the gardens we can admire the artist's work on totems carved by more than 3.50 meters and within the paintings of the characters painted by a painter Papousasie Vanuaté . Surprising is a new more modern style, it seems that the Papuan character has lost all its customs and turned into more European. This is only my opinion. Subsequently a troop of Solomon Islands, we came to discover their traditional dances and songs. Meanwhile behind the scenes getting ready Bougna tasting chicken, we ate after the show sitting on mats accompanied by slam and music Pacific. Great night we even realized there was some beer and wine. Usually in animation alcohol is prohibited. We return around 21:30 tomorrow Saturday is rest for all the world since Sunday outing with the association of birds and a 7:30 am departure.
Like last year to start early for the 6:30 departure prony to 8 hours. We had only done out next Wednesday, but there was a disclaimer at the last minute. Gille Captain of last year we phone to see if we are open for this Sunday, the response was positive as we expect more and more places are expensive. We will not be with him but with a colleague, it does not matter how long it shine, out to sea on a catamaran is always nice. Here we departed for Prony over an hour and a half on a winding road but it was redone. Arrival at the boat that people, nine catamarans are waiting to board. We take a schedule to get there, we removed the shoes on board. Some catalytic signed a charter to meet the whale and all other cetaceans. It is therefore recommended:
- Not to touch, feed and swim with a whale
- Place at least one crew member to the observation post to supplement the captain.
- When a vessel is within the area of cetaceans, approach slowly and cautiously with these mammals, not to exceed maximum 4 boats in the area of observation, duration of this 2 to 3 hours especially if there smaller.
- For the minimum approach distances for whales 100 m and 50 m for dolphins.
Approaching the viewing area are the whales, but we are a bit far, we see that the chef of damage these mammals. We stayed the indicated times and then we return to the starting point of stopping at the Ilot Casy, to dive a little head in a warm sea despite it rains, the corals are beautiful.
